I was wondering
When you hear a piece of music, and then hear it in a different key, do you hear a difference in the emotional/aesthetic qualities of the music; or can you just hear a difference in pitch?
I can hear a big change in the emotional/aesthetic qualities.
I also associate different keys with different colours, with sharp keys sounding yellow, green and brown, and flat keys sounding blue, purple and black.

yeah i thing associating with colors is normal. i associate with colors and images but u never know


nao

Yeah, when I hear something in a different key, I immediately think something`s wrong (like someone`s out of tune). Changing the key can change the feeling of the music somewhat, but only to good listeners.

Yeah, at the moment I`ve just transposed the clarinet part of my Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano so I can play it, and I`m listening to it to make sure the computer`s done it properly.
I`ve had to change the track pitch offset so it sounds like it`s in the original key, otherwise I get all mixed up with the different relationships bewtween notes.

Hi! In this message there are two links. The first is a link to another thread on a different site (the site is a clarinet site in case you wanted to know). I know the thread is quite long but it talks about exactly what you experience when you hear music - please read it. You certainly seem to have a talent - I envy you! The second link is to a short article about what you would hear when listening to music in different keys.

http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=121712&t=121712

http://www.wmich.edu/mus-theo/courses/keys.html

Amy

That is so cool!
I agree with most of the stuff there...except what he says (the 2nd link) about Ab and Db major.

Do any of you people make a distinction between sharp keys and flat keys? I do, and the other night I decided to see if there was any relationship between the perception of a key as "sharp" or "flat" and the position (on the piano) of the black and white keys in the scale that it`s based on.

I found a very definite relationship.

For major keysAnything in brackets refers to the corresponding scale degree in the key`s relative minor)
FLAT (F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db and Gb)
-Usually black tonic (mediant)
-White mediant (dominant)
-Usually black subdominant (submediant)
-Usually black dominant (leading note)
-Usually white leadin note (supertonic)
SHARP (G, D, A, E, B and F#)
-Usually white tonic (mediant)
-Black mediant (dominant)
- White subdominant (submediant)
- Usually white dominant (leading note)
-Usually black leading note (Supertonic)
MINOR KEYS
(Anything in brackets refers to the corresponding scale degree in the relative major)
FLAT: (d, g, c, f, b flat, e flat)
-White supertonic (leading note)
-Usually black mediant (tonic)
Usually white dominant (mediant)
-Usually black submediant (subdominant)

SHARP: (e, b, f#, c#, g#)
-Black supertonic (leading note)
-White mediant (tonic)
Usually black dominant (mediant)
Usually white submediant (subdominant)
-----------------------------------
The scale degrees that I don`t mention don`t seem to affect this.
Where I say "usually", the exceptions tend to occur in more neutral keys (F major, G major etc), or in the very ambiguous key of F#/Gb major.
For those who don`t understand scale degree names, here are what they would refer to in the C major scale
C- tonic
D- supertonic
E- mediant
F- subdominant
G- dominant
A- submediant
B- leading note
-----------------------------------
I found these results fascinating because I was speaking to one of my university lecturers last year about this topic and I suggested that there might be a relationship between key perception and the position of the black and white notes. What does everyone else think?

Oops- that sad face is meant to be a left bracket (Stupid typying errots-I wosh O Ciuld rype)

The black-white kez thing doesnät matter, to me. Arrrgh! Stupid German keyboard! Ok. If black and white keys all looked the same, and nobody could tell the difference between the black and white keys, I would [can`t find a word in my stupid head] the note to be sharp or flat from the order of sharps and flats (relative to C major and A minor.)

Yeah, I was using the term "black keys" synonymously with "those notes that aren`t in the C major or a minor scale" because obviously most instruments don`t have black and white keys, just different notes.